How is South Sudan doing 12 years after independence? | DW News

let's now turn to the world's youngest Nation South Sudan the East African country became independent 12 years ago on the 9th of July 2011. finally we are free with a feeling many South Sudanese shared on that day that after Decades of civil war between the North and the South over demands for more Regional autonomy by South and Sudan president Sava care promised a more stable peaceful and prosperous Nation so how has South Sudan fared after its independence let's find out Republic 2011 when the people of South Sudan split from Sudan Africa's largest country at the time they wanted a future free of Oppression and conflict it had been a painful journey and Independence provided a chance for freedom from Arab Rule and for the unity of their own ethnic groups under one nation [Music] a happy day like this should not dwell on the bad memories but it is important to recognize that for many generations this land has seen and told suffering and death we have been bombed ma'am enslaved and treated worse than a refugee in our own country but we have to forgive although we will not forget the new dawn also allowed them to pin their hopes of economic Prosperity on their country's vast supplies of oil previously controlled by the North but it didn't take long for things to go wrong breaking away should have birthed a nation United but South Sudan only found division mainly along ethnic lines as different factions fought they terrorized their fellow citizens the U.N and human rights groups want key figures in the fighting investigated for war crimes corruption had also entrenched itself in the country channeling oil wealth intended for the people's future to a select Elite Transparency International ranks South Sudan as the third most corrupt country globally trailing only Somalia and Syria the struggle for power has challenged South Sudan's stability salvakir has been the president since Independence he's announced the country's first elections will take place next year the exercise will be a major test of South Sudan standing as a democracy so far it has struggled to convince [Music] [Applause] the years of fighting displaced millions of South Sudanese but many are now returning so far this year more than 130 000 people have made their way back home however they are now confronted with a new danger the lurkin threat of unexploded landmines and bombs remnants of a war-torn past the country was almost deserted two months ago by this family's return home from refugee camps a neighboring Uganda the classrooms are filling with life again walking then you touch the wire today's lesson landmines and bombs and how to avoid them underground they may stay for years but they don't expire okay it will only expect bad when you step on it then it explode so after Decades of War much of this land is still heavily contaminated one wrong step could be deadly this NGO is traveling the country to warn the new returnees after the lesson the teachers show the team a suspicious object they found in the school's backyard it's a small ammunition it is here at this one another team will come to destroy the grenade before a child picks it up finds like this are common here removing them all an enormous task this team of the mine Advisory Group and NGO has been called to investigate this field after scanning the ground they start digging today's find dangerous cluster ammunition varied only 40 centimeters Underground is this very dangerous yeah it's very dangerous it's not movable also at the same time this when we find like this and then we just destroy the same area you cannot move we're now hiding out under a tree roughly 200 meters away from where the teams just found the cluster ammunition and from here they're going to press this button to explode the bomb safely nearby Nicholas and his family are waiting to farm their land again they returned home from Uganda in February 10 years after fleeing the Civil War but they can't start work because of the unexploded mines first I want to build then I cultivate for my family so that they get food and from there also when I I cultivate enough food part of it I will sell when I get some income so that I pay school fee for my children food with scars on Uganda after eight Russians were cut but people returning to South Sudan are finding it even harder now people in terrible situations they are fearing to come back and show today not because there is a war but they are fearing because of food security there is no food more than 100 000 people have also returned from Sudan because of the war that started there in April many end up in camps like this one the people living in the camp here in the capital Juba are still waiting to return home but it's too dangerous conflict floods and food insecurity keep them away and their very own land that's still contaminated with bombs and landmines is the chairman of this camp for entirely displaced people he arrived here 10 years ago forced out of his village by heavy fighting where I'm from there are a lot of bombs and mines yet some people are returning those coming from Sudan even though the place isn't safe I've heard of a lot of injuries but there are no people to guide them and tell them what to look out for South Sudan is hoping to clear all anti-personal minefields and cluster Munitions by 2026 an unlikely goal given more and more contaminated areas are discovered almost every day for more on this let's bring in South Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch hello thanks for joining us now after 12 years of South Sudan's Independence what is there to celebrate um thanks for having me today well I think that's a tricky question and the response will the response will depend on who you ask in South Sudan um for many uh who are the elites who might be in power um the answer might be that there's a lot to be celebrated um and maybe a lot of South Sudanese will also say that there is a lot to be celebrated given that the independence itself came from long years of struggle long years of sacrifice um and a self-determination of you know a people who had been marginalized and oppressed by the Sudanese regime for a very long time but for others who have endured um uh suffering and human rights abuses and all sorts of feeling that The Liberation and Independence did not achieve the goal that it was meant to which is to create a democratic prosperous uh and free Society um then they will say that there's not much to be celebrated now that the country is going into its 12th year of Independence I mean you say it so eloquently because there has been a lot of challenges and there continues to be challenges do you get an overall sense that the independence has been worth it if you talk to people generally well where South Sudan is right now in as much as the talk will be about celebration of Independence the country is also at a very precarious time uh in his history we all know that the the there's a transitional government of national Unity uh which is uh um based off a previous transitional governments that collapsed in 2016 and this transitional government is supposed to usher in elections in a transition uh and a different kind of democratic transition so South Sudan right now it is at the edge of a precipice um where a lot of South Sudanese are wondering and a bit anxious about what the end of this transitional government at the end of 2024 means for both security stability individual prosperity and uh so many other things so right now uh because of what's happening in Sudan um and that the southern is pound has not been performing well for a very long time time the cost of living is very high for majority of saltedness there's also conflict in certain parts of the country sporadic fighting whether that is inter-communal violence or where we see governments and opposition actors um using proxy militias uh to gain to make certain military gains in areas such as upenal and we saw that it also in southern Unity last year so there is there is a lot that South Sudanese are wondering about on a daily basis other than whether the Independence was worth it which is fair enough I mean you mentioned quite a lot of the challenges the issue of landmines serious Refugee crisis economic challenges unstable political situation what needs to happen to improve their situation in the country absolutely um so I mean first of all there's a humanitarian crisis um that is largely a man-made crisis a man-made crisis generated by the fact that you have a government that is unaccountable uh in terms of dispensing its duty to provide for the general population much of that Duty has been left to humanitarian agencies humanitarian agencies who are struggling to meet the needs of nearly 7 million people in the country who are either either because they are displaced uh because of fighting uh whether that is current or previous fighting that has made people's home areas people unable to reach their home areas for fear of more fighting or insecurity or that there's nothing back in the home areas that they fled or that um or that they are displaced by floods now Saturday has faced uh nearly three or four years of severe flooding in certain areas such as Southern Unity uh and other parts of the country and this um climate-induced displacement has also had an impact um on the humanitarian situation in the country but there's the general rights record that the country has yet to uh turn a page on uh where you have the majority or where you have perpetrators much of whom are in the governments who have not been held to account for the many abuses that have been committed since war broke out in 2013. um so the the there is there there are tremendous tremendous challenges and the government itself has yet to meet um a certain Milestones that they have to achieve in order to for instance conduct elections at the time at the end of 2024 um or even to build in institutions to rebuild certain institutions that are necessary for South Sudan to transition into a democratic state to ensure Justice and accountability uh including transitional Justice mechanisms um or to even ensure Service delivery so you touched on that event so let's let's hammer on that because you're right South to the nice president Sava care recently promised the country's first elections in 2024 since its independence from Sudan in 2011. is that what the country needs to move forward well action since 10 since they uh since South Sudan separated from from Sudan and the 2010 elections are have this backdrop that were mostly they were not free or Fair uh most uh smaller political parties were marginalized and crushed and results of various electoral area districts were disputed but there were no credible institutions to handle those disputes uh violence broke out there were insurrections in places like jungle uh as a result of those elections so elections are part of the 2018 peace deal the 2018 peace deal which the transitional government is currently implementing demands that there be elections at the end of 2024 uh to usher in a because what what is existing in South Sudan right now is a a power sharing government uh based on the belligerents that were fighting and some of whom were not fighting uh um uh the war and so the elections are required by the peace deal now the question is how it started on going to conduct those elections if there is no census if there is no if the Electoral body is not yet reconstituted um if the if the constituencies and other demographic factors are not uh are not put in place if there is ongoing insecurity um in certain places in the country how is everybody going to be able to vote to ensure that the election is not only going to be credible but of integrity um and that it will reflect the views of the majority okay and they say we're here to see who is who he is going to run against but what we've seen is also um a lack of political and Civic space where over the years Civil Society has not had freedom of expression freedom of opinion on specific controversial issues uh uh um touching on matters of governance or human rights but also political parties um that are not the splm have been dwarfed and cowed into silence and inactivity clearly a lot needs to be done to get South Sudan the youngest country in the world back on track Niagara South Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch thank you very much for your time thank you very much for your time no matter the challenges in South Sudan Sports is proven to be a unifying force Against All Odds the youngest country in the world has made history by qualifying for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in their very first attempt the achievement has also made kids fall in love with the game a reporter met with some of them in the capital of Juba [Applause] the former South Sudanese NBA star built the school for hundreds of children and teenagers from across the country one of them is 17 year old Tasha come on Julie my brothers used to play and every time I'm down watching them but I don't care I just realized how much my brothers were having but every time they come home they talk about basketball and they made my love for it also to grow but girls playing basketball in South Sudan that's quite unusual Tasha had to bring two coaches to a house so that her parents would allow her to train when the academy finally started the girls League more and more women signed up but now I think we're more than 100 yeah the number keeps increasing every time the boys everybody wants to play now that the national team is headed for the World's Cup Basketball is becoming ever more popular growing up in South Sudan isn't easy the young country has been embroiled in a deadly Civil War for most of its existence while poverty and crime ruled the streets basketball helps to forget sometimes surprised when you sit down one on one some people being attacked by the war the realest car you know so we can it's like Authority for them some of the kids but for Michael basketball can achieve even more especially in a country as divided as South Sudan this little ball people perception in South Sudan we have so many ethnicities call it tribes what do you say here all South Sudan Who Don't Preach right it is another thing we tell them you got brothers and sisters most players in the national team were up abroad but in the future more talents will come directly from South Sudan I want to play basketball professionally I want to play basketball to Ireland to the NBA level or something of that kind but first i'm looking forward and hoping I could one day play for the South Sudan women's nationality yeah I'm that much of it but your team I want to be able to present my country I want people see me they know that I'm a citizens until then the kids and coaches will keep training and working towards their dreams of a peaceful and unified South Sudan [Applause]

Channel: DW News

Views: 108,521

Keywords: DW News

Id: AB8dhMF48ZU

Length: 18min 36sec (1116 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 09 2023